Main Project
by xLiosx
Summary: In a dark future for the Maple World, many have fallen. Destruction reigns as the Black Mage and his minions get more and more powerful, the hand of darkness closing in on them all. New leaders have risen on the side of good, in hopes of crushing the evil. But what would the result of this all be? Definitely has character deaths. Suggestions for a better title welcome. K for now
1. Chapter 1

Author's note:

This is my first maple fanfiction I've posted on as of now, but not the first time I've tried to write something like that. This fanfiction is posted on my tumblr blog too, along with other maple fanfiction I will be writing. A few things to say. 1) This is a future AU 2) The characters may not match in terms of personality to what's canon because I may have a different way of interpreting their personality 3) Some characters exist as both their male and female selves, being DS(Vala and Valfor), Mastema(Mastema and Mastemia) and Evan(Evan and Evian). That's all I guess. Oh, if anyone has any ideas for the title (rather than it being named Main Project), feel free to PM me orsomething!

**Main project chapter 1**

It was a bleak and hopeless future that they faced.

Damien closed the door gently behind him, careful not to slam it. It was late in the night, and nobody would be too happy about being waken up. Recently, everyone was on the edge, any small disturbance enough to cause one to jump. A lack of proper rest didn't help either. He wasn't about to break the extreme silence in the Resistance headquarters.

He felt a tap on the shoulder and turned around to face Ulrika. The girl, no, young lady was looking at him with her azure blue eyes, asking him to follow her. He nodded and she turned, short chocolate brown hair swaying as she did. He walked with her from the resting area of the base to the central administrative part, where all operations were planned and carried out. Usually, it was bustling with people, everyone busying themselves with whatever they had on hand. But currently, in the dead of the night, there were only a few still awake.

There was Aidan, busy with his machines at a corner. It was literally a rule for him to spend half of his day with his machines. Unless he got to mess with or upgrade Xenon's circuitry. In those scenarios, he would just spend the whole day on them.

Cutie was leaning on her jaguar, sleeping soundly, long lavender hair sprawled carelessly. She had fallen asleep on her jaguar countless times, so much that her jaguar was literally her bed. Not that her jaguar minded.

Luka was in another corner, next to a giant apparatus, with a huge floating crystal in the centre, reading through something on his laptop. Seeing them, he looked up from the screen, serious amber eyes boring into theirs through his half-rimmed spectacles.

"You shouldn't be up. Go back and sleep." He reprimanded in a hushed but harsh tone, like a discipline master scolding little children.

"I'm just having a walk, is there a problem with that?" Ulrika snapped softly, not wanting to wake Cutie or disturb Aidan.

"You need rest. So don't think of going out or anything." Luka said.

"I just want some fresh air. To allow for better sleep." Ulrika huffed, displeasure on her face.

"It's dangerous."

"Well, I'm not helpless and Damien's here, what are you worrying about?" she replied indignantly.

Luka turned to face Damien.

"Why the hell are you following her out anyway? Go get some rest, you're useless if you end up collapsing from fatigue." Luka said.

"I was planning to go out, she just happened to have the same sentiment. And I did get some rest just now, just wanted a walk. I believe we have the freedom to do that right?" Damien answered, his tone still retaining its slight haughtiness from his years as a Black Wing commander.

"You two...whatever, do as you like. If you get killed, then so be it."

Luka went back to his laptop. Ulrika sighed slightly at Luka and continued to walk, Damien following beside her. Ulrika's pace was a bit slow for Damien as usual, but he didn't particularly mind. They walked away from the administrative area, towards the medical bay. Wendelline nodded to them as she passed, preparing to turn in for the night. The two smiled in response, Ulrika's sweet and Damien's looking more like a smirk. After she left, a door nearby opened as Jun exited that room. Seeing the two, he frowned and asked.

"Ulrika, where are you going?"

"Out for a short walk." she replied cheerily.

"You shouldn't."

"Ah, first Luka and now you. Don't be such a spoilsport." Ulrika replied, a slight scowl overwriting her smile.

"It's dangerous."

"Not you too! I ain't that helpless!"

"But still-"

"What's up with you people, we're just going to get some fresh air. Besides, even if we get attacked, chances are those people will be invading the base. And we both can deal quite a number in a fight. If it bothers you so much, just walk off and pretend we're patrolling or something. Whatever helps you sleep at night." Damien retorted.

"Bu-"

"Jun, I just want some time outside the base, anything wrong?" Ulrika snapped.

"...I guess not..." he replied reluctantly.

"Wonderful! Now you can go back and sleep while we two go out. Should have just done that from the start. Things would have been so much simpler. Now goodbye and have a good night!" Damien said, walking off while dragging Ulrika.

Jun opened his mouth to counter, but was left staring at their backs as they left quickly. He sighed to himself, mumbling under his breath, and walked off towards the resting area. Once Jun was out of sight, Ulrika whispered.

"Why did you drag me off like that?"

"Because darling Ulrika's heart is so soft, I was worried she would be upset."

"Upset about what?"

"About poor Jun."

"Why would I be?"

"...never mind."

The two passed the medical bay and into the training area, various training rooms on both sides. The two didn't visit the area for any reason other than to go outside. They had long outgrown the training machines, despite the fact that the machines were of rather formidable levels.

"I always don't understand why I have a prick like you as my friend." Ulrika huffed.

"Prick? Oh, Ulrika, I neve-" Damien teased.

"Shut up! Just keep those innuendos to you and your dirty mind, I don't want to hear them!" Ulrika cut Damien off, disgust filling her tone.

"But you know what I mean, so your mind is as dirty."

"And who was the one who taught me all those things?"

"The dictionary."

"You were the one who instigated me! It's your fault!"

"Hush, people want to sleep." Damien replies wryly.

"You are so annoying at times."

Ulrika fell silent. The two quickly reached the dead end of the corridor, and Ulrika was just about to touch the wall when it opened before them, causing Ulrika to jump.

"Xenon, you scared me!" Ulrika said.

"Oh, I'm sorry about that, I truly didn't mean to scare you. I didn't expect anyone to be behind the door, I am truly sorry." Xenon replied formally.

"After so many years and you're still the same. Always so formal. And there's no need to apologise that much, I know you didn't mean it."

"Still, I apologise."

"Apology accepted, mind if we use the lift?" Damien asked.

"Oh, sure, no problem."

Xenon quickly stepped out of the passage, allowing Damien and Ulrika to enter. After Ulrika and Damien had entered, the wall closed back into one piece, no trace of it ever being present. Ulrika felt about the wall to her right, a panel lighting up when she touched it. After keying in some commands, the lift vibrated slightly before smoothly ascending, making nary a sound. Very quickly, they reached their destination, one of the four walls surrounding them opening silently. The two exited the lift and the wall closed behind them. Before them was an open space, with many other concealed doors all around. Habitually, the two entered the third door from the left, another lift bringing them up further. They reached another open space, one which had a door at the end. Crossing the space, they exited the base and were greeted by the fresh mountain air.

"Yes! Don't need to be all quiet here anymore. One reason why I can't stand being in the base. In the day, no one can hear you and at night, you can't speak." Ulrika sighed happily.

"You sure no one can hear you? Then I believe half the successful missions we have had would have failed." Damien corrected.

"It's not like we have that many successful missions...ever since that incident..." Ulrika said, starting to walk.

"Successful missions? Let's just say we're rather successful in not having lost anyone so far in the recent missions. Especially since the lovely and smart Ulrika decided to join in the wonderful operation overseeing team." Damien smirked.

"Can we ever have a conversation void of snarks on your part?" Ulrika shot back.

"If you're waiting for one, then keep waiting, keep waiting." Damien replied.

Ulrika resisted the urge to hit him, opting instead to clench her fists.

"Argh, you're so annoying! How the hell does your brother bear with you?"

"He doesn't. He's hardly around nowadays, always doing a mission or something along those lines." Damien said, tone slightly quiter and more pensive.

"He's still that intent on revenge, I guess." Ulrika said.

"Can't blame him. Every day, I feel like rushing in and rending those bastards."

"Knowing very well you would be the one being rent. Get that thought out of your head, there's no way we're letting you kill yourself. Wait till we're more prepared on a whole."

"A few years have already passed since that incident and frankly, I'm getting tired of waiting."

"Hey, don't go doing something stupid okay. It's not as if your sister isn't going to wake up." Ulrika replied with caution.

"She's been in coma all this time, it's been so long I don't know if she'll wake up! And it's because of me! Do you know how it is for me, knowing that I was the cau-"

Damien cut himself off quickly, realising what he had just said. He could see Ulrika's eyes cloud over some and regret assaulted him.

"I didn't mean that okay, I swear, it just slipped my mouth, it's just..." he blabbered, trying to explain himself.

"It's alright, I know how you are, you just talk without using your brain. I'm okay." Ulrika replied.

Despite her saying that, she was looking away and had stopped smiling, biting her lip gently as she played with her fingers.

"It's not okay, it was very insensitive of me to say that...sorry..." Damien apologised.

Ulrika smiled slightly at that, looking up directly into Damien's wine red eyes.

"Is this the only thing you would spontaneously apologise for?" Ulrika joked, though her tone was still heavy.

"I'm not that bad, stop making me seem like some heartless jerk who goes around stepping on everyone."

"Hmm, I wonder..." Ulrika jested.

Damien let out a small sigh, as Ulrika's smile reappeared. He didn't like it when Ulrika didn't smile. He was used to her smiling all the time. Any expression that wasn't cheery, serious or one of varying levels of anger just felt weird to him.

"Ah, what a pleasant sight! Seeing two pairings in a row~."

Cutie approached the two from behind, a blithe smile on her face.

"What?" Damien said incredulously.

"Cutie! Quite shipping me with people! First, Von, then Jun, and now Damien? Who are you going to ship me with next?" Ulrika exclaimed.

"Well I could ship you with Luka, a teacher-student rela-" Cutie replied airily.

"I don't want to hear about it." Ulrika cut in.

"Wait, am I hearing things correctly? You're putting me together with her? Hahaha! Sorry, too young for my taste."

Damien laughed.

"Young? I thought you understood that I'm no longer a kid!" Ulrika exclaimed.

It was one topic Ulrika was very sensitive about. She hated it when people treated her like a child. She was very well above the intellectual capacity of a child and she had definitely grown up a lot. However, it was as if others couldn't break out of the idea that she was no longer the little girl from before and still talked to her like they did before. In their minds, she was always 'Claudine's baby sister'.

"I didn't mean it that way. Yeah, you're no longer a kid but the age gap is still gigantic. In case you haven't realised, I'm hundreds of years older than you are."

"Well, you certainly don't act that way."

"I apologise for being so youthful at heart."

"Ah, a lover's quarrel~." Cutie sang buoyantly.

"What lover's quarrel? I wouldn't want a jerk like him!" Ulrika exclaimed.

"I wouldn't want to be with a flat-chested tom- what the f- what did you hit me for?!"

Damien stopped talking as Ulrika's fist crashed down on his head.

"For being an extremely irritating bastard!"

"I guess I shall just leave you two alone to your own business and check on my other pairing~." Cutie said casually, looking on lightheartedly as the other two bickered.

"Well, I was just about to leave so I'll leave with you, Cutie!" Ulrika half-shouted, still fuming.

"No, you can't leave first. I was planning on leaving too so unless you plan on leaving together with me, you'll have to wait." Damien rectified.

"Why can't you wait?"

"Oh, what can you do to stop me?"

Ulrika narrowed her eyes at him, walking towards the entrance, where Cutie was already waiting. Damien followed behind quickly. He was about to enter the base when the door slammed shut in his face.

"Oh? Locking me out? Now that's harsh." he questioned.

"To hell with you!" Ulrika declared, her voice muffled by the door.

He could vaguely hear the voices of Ulrika and Cutie, words not clear but intonation there, getting softer until her could no longer hear them. He then tried the door.

"She really locked me out? Shit." Damien cursed under his breath.

He sighed and began walking towards town to enter by the main entrance to the base.

Author's note(again):

Sorry if the font is funny or anything, I'm on my phone and I don't really know how to work on the phone. Reviews are welcome, but please, no flaming. Constructive criticism please. That's all for now^_^

- Lios


	2. Chapter 2

Author's note...I don't know what to write. Yeah, have fun reading^_^. Updates are slow because SCHOOL RUINS DREAMS. Yes. I'm working on the third chapter already so...pardon me. And I'm posting on mobile and mobile isn't the best platform for this so...if there's anything weird please tell me. Oh yeah, i do use quite a number of OCs, though none of their roles would be really significant. They're kind of there to tie up the ends, because there are always others at the sides who contribute to successes rather than just the mainstream characters. If you understand what I mean. And reviews are welcome, very welcome! Enough talking by me, enjoy.

Main project Chapter 2

What he felt was a dark, desolate gloom.

Nineheart sat on the rickety wooden chair, pen in hand, ink flowing freely as words filled the page. He had pretty much gotten u sed to his little cell, though he still couldn't get over his dislike for the stagnant air and uncomfortable bed. At least it was better than a cage. He was glad that they had agreed to his request for pen and paper, providing him with rather sufficient amounts each time. Today, he would be getting his usual stock again. He wondered who would come by each time. Sometimes, it was one of the higher ups. Most of the times, though, it was one of those members who were neither too high up nor low in the ranks.

He heard the sound of a key turning in its lock and the creaking of a metal door. Aforementioned door was then closed. The sound of footsteps echoed for a while before coming to a stop. Soon after, the door to his cell slid to the side. A girl with short brown hair stood at the door. She wore the Black Wing uniform he was so used to seeing, the Black Wing logo ever so prominent on her dark hat. Her face was shadowed by the brim of the hat, obscuring her face from view. In her arms was a stack of paper and a box of pens above it. The door slid close behind her.

The girl walked forward and the light shone onto her face, revealing youthful eyes and a cheery smile. Nineheart couldn't help but sigh. Another youth. One so lively too. He wondered whether she was new or just extremely optimistic so as not to be affected by the nature of the organisation. She reminded him of someone else too, but he couldn't remember. His time in his cell, with hardly any contact with life, had dulled his memory some.

"Here's your papers and pens. What are you writing to require so many?" the girl chirped.

Nineheart paused for a moment. It had been a long time since anyone had made any small talk with him. He used to dislike it, but in his current solitude, he treasured any humane interaction he could have.

"I'm writing a story." he replied simply.

"Oh, I see."

The girl placed the papers down on his desk, taking the box of pens off and putting it beside the stack. She eyed the slightly dishevelled stack of papers at the side.

"Do you mind if I settle your things for you?"

"...I don't mind, in fact, I'd be glad if you could help. Thank you."

The girl proceeded to help him tidy up the papers, putting them into a neat, orderly stack. She then transferred them into a box, which Nineheart used to contain

"Well, I'll be leaving now. Goodbye!"

Nineheart sighed again. The girl was well-mannered and so full of life, he wondered what she was doing in an organisation like the Black Wings.

"Goodbye." he responded.

The girl turned and walked away, towards the door. Just before she reached the door, she said one last line.

"Well, do you care to be recalled to life?"

He looked up in surprise.

"Well, I can't say for sure." he replied.

The girl stopped and laughed lightly. She then exited the room. Nineheart turned back to his papers and continued to write. He heard the sound of the lock being turned again. Then it occurred to him. The lock hadn't been turned a second time. Neither had he heard the inner door close. He turned to see the inner door open. He stood up slowly and walked towards it. A piece of paper lay on the floor. He picked it up gingerly. On it was a drawing of a bird. He wondered whether it belonged to the Black Wing member from earlier on. He also wondered why she hadn't closed the door. He looked out to see that the outer door too was open.

And suddenly, alarms blared through the area. The Black Wing member from previously came into view again.

"The door's open? Was the system hacked? Those resistance people are really smart aren't they? Argh, alright, pack your papers, we probably have to be moving." she said.

Nineheart sighed. Yet another displacement. Every time a infiltration like that occurred, he would be moved to somewhere else. The Black Wing hideouts seemed to be infinite. He entered the room and tied his boxes of papers together, then placed them in a large bag and carried them on his back. Years of confinement with nothing to do bad been highly productive to his writing. The boxes contained years of work, and he didn't plan on losing any piece of paper. He looked at the girl. She was talking over the intercom, apparently receiving orders from her superiors.

"Okay, time to bring you to the next place. Follow me." she said.

Nineheart followed her wearily out of the cell. Swiftly, she brought him out of the base through a back exit. He didn't bother in taking in the layout of the place. The back exit would probably be demolished after this usage. Soon, they were in the mountains. The girl kept moving forward, never turning around once. Suddenly, she stopped and signalled for him to crouch down behind a rock. The girl was looking at something, but from his position, he couldn't see what was going on. After some time, her shoulders relaxed and she stood up.

"I'll pass it to you from here." the girl said.

"Alright, get back in there." another feminine voice said.

The girl nodded and signalled for Nineheart to stand. A dark-haired lady came into sight and the girl left. She also wore a Black Wing hat and outfit, a similarly black backpack on her back.

"Alright, you're with me now." the lady said, her tone serious, like that of most of the Black Wings around.

Nineheart nodded and continued to follow her. His footsteps got heavier as the weight of all his papers started to get to him. Walking uphill wasn't an easy task for someone like him, who had been confined for so long. Sure, he did walk around quite some in his cell, but that didn't make for too much exercise.

"Out of breath already? I guess scholars aren't the type with stamina. Pass me that bag, I'll help you with it." the lady asked.

He looked into her green eyes and saw the sincerity in it. However, he shook his head and continued to walk.

"If you insist..." the lady said.

She continued to proceed forward. At a point of time, she took off her Black Wing hat and carelessly threw it into her backpack, freeing her wavy hair from the French braid it had been in. Nineheart wondered if it was really okay for her to do that. The Black Wings seemed to be very particular about their dressing and if her higher-ups saw her doing that, she would probably get scolded. But he mentally pushed that question away and focused on the arduous task of trekking through the mountain.

Suddenly, the lady turned around to look him directly in the eye. He stopped walking, wondering what she was doing.

"Is your memory that bad?" she questioned.

He had no idea what she was talking about. This was probably the first time he had ever met this member.

"I'm sorry, but I don't believe we've met before." he replied.

"...I see."

She raised an eyebrow rather sceptically, turning and continuing to walk. As they proceeded uphill, she suddenly took a sharp turn to her right and started to head downhill, Nineheart following as best as he could. Eventually, they ended up before a rock wall. The lady pressed on one section of the wall and one portion popped out, a panel appearing. She quickly drew something on it and the panel disappeared back where it came from. The wall then opened up before them. Nineheart wondered how this base would be like. He would have to remember its layout when he entered and draw it down somewhere again. She signalled for him to enter before her.

He entered to see a empty room, with nothing in it. The lady walked up to the wall across the room, placed her hand on one section of the wall and the wall opened up. Frankly, Nineheart was rather impressed. He hadn't been able to see any trace of an entrance anywhere, both for the outside and inside. And that was a feat, considering the number of secret passages he had been through. However, the fact that the technology used here was different from the other Black Wing bases put him off some. Was it something different this time? Were they finally getting rid of him, after years of resistance from him?

The lady entered the passage created in the wall and he followed suit. The passage seemed to be a lift of some sort. She placed a palm to her right and that portion of the wall glowed, revealing a keyboard. She keyed in several commands swiftly and the lift moved downwards, without a sound. The lady sighed.

"Ah, mission complete! Perfectly too! Hey, put down those papers, I'll carry them for you as I said! What's with your insistence on carrying them, you're just going to make yourself sore all over. I'm more qualified for such a thing...or maybe I'll get someone else to haul them out of the elevator." she said.

Nineheart stared at the lady quizzically. Her previous serious demeanour had been replaced by one filled with vigour. She seemed much more relaxed than previously. He found it hard to believe she was a Black Wing. Or was she?

"...you really don't know who I am?" she asked again.

"As I've said before, no."

"Do you have memory loss? Or is your age getting on you..."

A sly grin crossed the lady's face.

"I assure you, my mind is still very active indeed and shows no signs of deterioration."

"Whatever you say."

The lift came to a stop and they were in a corridor. It was empty, with a door at its end. Nineheart could hear some commotion from behind the door.

"Oh, don't get too shocked by what you see alright? Just stay calm and keep cool."

Nineheart wondered what would be so shocking that he couldn't keep his cool. He had seen so many things, probably nothing could prove shocking, no matter how horrible. They walked to the end of the corridor and the lady stopped, placing her hand on the doorknob.

"Alright, prepare yourself..." she said, pausing dramatically.

She turned the doorknob.

"Voila."


	3. Chapter 3

...I have nothing to say, enjoy

Main project chapter 3

He couldn't believe his eyes.

"Excuse me, Mr Luka, but what should we do in this situation?"

"Ask that group to retreat some and move over to the other side."

"Oh, so that's how you fix those parts! Thank you for helping, Mr Aidan, next time I'll be able to do it myself!"

"Good, I don't have that many hands to fix everyone's machines."

"We're running out of potions! Jun, would you mind getting some ingredients for us from Victoria or Ossyria?"

"Huh? Oh, okay. I'll go find Ace and help prepare the ship."

"Zanier! How's the situation on your side?"

"Pretty okay. Valfor's there how bad can it be?"

"...this is..." Nineheart breathed.

A wide, self-satisfied smile appeared on the lady's face.

"Welcome to the Resistance base, Nineheart! Now, let me just report something..." she chirped.

She quickly slid into a seat and switched on the intercom, putting on a headset.

"Ulrika, he's out. Flawless mission this one was." she spoke into the mike.

She then nodded a couple of times before replying.

"Got it, I'll get him up to date."

She removed the headset and got off the chair. Meanwhile, Nineheart was looking around the base in amazement. The base didn't look anything like what it did before. It looked as if it had undergone some renovation, turning it into a high-tech intelligence centre. There were a few familiar faces in the crowd, but even these few seemed so foreign. He wondered how the knights were doing. He hoped that they hadn't lost to the Resistance in terms of intelligence.

"Nineheart, do you seriously not know who I am?"

The lady had come back to his side and repeated the question she had already asked twice before.

"No, I'm sorry but I'm afraid no." he replied.

She sighed, bringing her palm to her face. That action reminded Nineheart of someone, but he couldn't remember who.

"Juejona. Ring a bell?" she said.

And he remembered. Juejona was a Wild Hunter back from before the time they had created an alliance. She and her brother was involved in the incident concerning Vita and also took part in the Alliance meeting. She looked very different from before, much more mature and professional than before. Yet the similarities present, such as her eyes and her hairstyle, made him wonder how he hadn't realised it was her. Maybe he was getting old.

"Ah yes, Juejona. You've grown up quite some haven't you?" he said.

"Now you sound like an old man, Nineheart. Wait, you always ranted and preached like one before." she said.

Nineheart scowled at Juejona. What was with the reduction in respect now that she was older? But she did help in getting him out of confinement so he was in no position to complain.

"Oh! I ought to tell them about the news. She'll be so pleased to know that you're finally free!" Juejona exclaimed.

"Lirin!" she shouted across the room.

Nineheart turned towards where she was shouting to and noticed Lirin. She was next to Aran, discussing some matter in her usual serious, diligent manner. Upon hearing her name being called, she turned and caught sight of Nineheart. Lirin's eyes widened in surprise and she broke into a run. Soon, she was barrelling into Nineheart and had engulfed him in a tight hug.

"Nineheart! You're finally back! You're finally free from the Black Wings! It must have been horrible there right? Did they treat you badly? What's in that big bag of yours?" Lirin chattered on, firing questions at Nineheart rapidly like a Gatling gun.

"Calm down Lirin, I'll answer your questions later, when we have time to sit down and chat someplace okay? Relax your hug a bit, it's getting hard to breathe. And we're attracting attention." Nineheart said.

"Oh, sorry!" Lirin apologised.

Lirin instantly let go of Nineheart. By then quite some people had already noticed the presence of the silver-haired man, wondering who this man Lirin had been hugging so tightly was.

"Nineheart? Is it really you? It is! Ickart, they really got Nineheart out!"

The red-haired Blaze Wizard ran up to Nineheart and gave him a quick hug.

"Good to see you're still fine, Nineheart."

The dark-haired Night Walker greeted Nineheart calmly, a warm smile on his face. Beside him was a little child, wavy dark hair tied up in a fishtail braid at the nape of her neck, holding onto his hand.

"This is?" Nineheart asked, gesturing to the girl.

"Our daughter, Olivia." Oz replied.

"That means that you two are..."

"Yes. Have been together for quite some time already." Ickart finished for Nineheart.

"Who's that?" the little girl asked.

"Nineheart." Ickart replied the young girl warmly.

"Oh, the one who rants a lot, is very critical, always threatens to cut pay and have silver hair like a girl. His hair does look like a girl's." Olivia said.

Immediately, her parents, Juejona and Lirin gave the little girl a reprimanding look. Nineheart scowled. Oblivious to all that, the girl continued.

"He also puts the world to sleep."

Juejona smiled gently, a hint of pensiveness on her face.

"...you still remember that?" she asked the girl.

"Of course! And the picture too! It was so funny." Olivia replied innocently.

"May I ask who's been miseducating this young girl? Especially the part on putting the world to sleep." Nineheart asked.

The group fell silent.

"Excuse me, but is this Nineheart?"

The silence was broken almost as soon as it started by a monotonous voice. A blonde youth with bluish-grey eyes sat on one of the chairs before the many screens present, headset on. He gave off an aura of apathy, and Nineheart had a feeling that he wouldn't like the boy.

"Yes, I am Nineheart." he replied firmly.

The youth nodded.

"Looking forward to cooperating with you." he said, before turning back to the screen.

Nineheart took that action as a sign the boy didn't really want to talk. The conversation was probably started for formalities sake.

"Anyway, what is going on? The only thing I understand is that you all have freed me from the Black Wings. However, what has happened to the Resistance base? What are the chief knights doing here? Why are Aran and Lirin here too?" Nineheart asked.

"All that explanation's my job. The Resistance base has been continuously upgraded over the years till it's become how it is now, with much help from the Cygnus Knights. The two chief knights are here because...in short, Erev was attacked and...taken over." Juejona explained.

"Erev was attacked and defeated? When? By who?" Nineheart asked, shocked.

"Yes, it was taken over by the Black Wings and now one of their bases. We can't get there anymore as they've only allowed Black Wings to use the ship there. It was taken over a few months after your capture. The Black Wings came in and many commanders were involved...including a new commander on their part."Juejona explained.

"New commander?" Nineheart inquired.

Juejona thought for a while before replying.

"Yes. Could I elaborate more about it later? Just let me finish up here first."

"Alright. What about the Queen? And the other chief knights?" Nineheart continued.

"...Ickart, Oz why don't you explain instead?" Juejona said.

The two exchanged an uneasy look.

"In that invasion on Erev, Irina and Mihail lost their lives while protecting the Queen. As for Hawkeye, he passed away recently in battle." Ickart explained.

"And as for the Queen...she was captured..." Oz said.

"Captured?" Nineheart exclaimed in disbelief.

The two knights looked away in shame.

"It was not their fault. One day, the Queen left the base of her own accord and disappeared. It was that way for a week or so until I discovered news that she had been captured." Juejona defended.

"Why did she leave?" Nineheart pressed on.

"We still don't know. I'm looking into it, but I haven't even been able to figure out her location, so it'll take time. We are trying to find her as we speak." Juejona answered.

"What?" Nineheart said.

"We didn't raid the base just to rescue you, we did it with the secondary motive of accessing the data in their database. Xenon is currently copying it, if I'm not wrong?"

Juejona looked over at the teenage blonde before the screen after speaking. He nodded briefly, though still staring at the screen. Nineheart composed himself and decided to leave it up to them.

"What about Aran and Lirin?" he went on with his other questions.

"Rien was attacked too, though that wasn't the first time. The island was pretty badly battered and Aran and I decided to leave as we didn't want to endanger the penguins." Lirin explained.

"The Black Wing were targeting the heroes back then. And currently, they're still finding for me." Aran added in.

The silver-haired woman walked over, her sentient pole-arm by her side.

"What about the other heroes?" Nineheart asked.

"...they've mostly passed on." Aran said stoically.

"What?! All of them?"

Nineheart couldn't believe his ears. To think that all of the other heroes except for Aran had passed on was...shocking at the least. For nearly all the heroes to have been eliminated...

"What happened?" he asked.

"..."

No one seemed willing to reply, all opting to look at the feet, or suddenly gain interest in something else in the base.

"To be frank, the Lumiere was crashed and only Aran survived. With the exception of the culprit of course."

It was the blonde-haired boy from before again. He had taken off his headset, left his seat and walked over to join the group. Nineheart observed the boy now wore a earpiece though.

"And the culprit was?" Nineheart questioned..

"Evian." he replied monotonously.

"Evian?" Nineheart repeated after the boy in disbelief.

The female Dragon Master? The young girl was kind-hearted and rather gentle, maybe even rather meek. It was hard to believe that she would be so brazen as to attack the heroes. It was amazing how she managed to kill off so many of the heroes at one go. Had she gotten that strong? Nineheart knew the girl had quite some power but apparently he had underestimate the extent of her abilities.

"How about her brother? I don't believe she killed him." Nineheart said.

The two twins were so close, he found it unlikely.

"She didn't kill him. Rather, it was his death that triggered her attack. After her brother's death, she snapped and started to attack the heroes. We don't know what exactly happened. Aran received quite a knock to the head and thus suffers from some memory loss of that moment." the boy answered.

"I see...what about Evian now?"

"She's defected to the Black Magician's side. In fact, she is one of his best commanders. Under his wing, it seems she has taken up several forms of forbidden magics and is rather proficient in magic transfer." the boy said.

Nineheart nodded. He had read about it once before. It was the transfer of magic from another to oneself or vice versa, whether the other was willing or not. It had been labelled a forbidden art due to its dangers.

"She's the new commander I talked about. Not exactly very new, but new to you at least." Juejona said.

A moment of awkward silence ensued, broken roughly by the blonde boy again.

"I still haven't given a proper introduction of myself, have I? I apologise. My name is Lios." the boy said, extending his hand.

"When it comes to the monitoring of operations, Lios is the head." Juejona said.

"Nice to meet you, Lios. I am Nineheart Von Rubistein, once the Queen's strategist, now just an ordinary citizen. Is it okay for you to be here, talking to us? If I'm not wrong, the battle is still ongoing." Nineheart said, shaking Lios's hand firmly.

"The battle's being wrapped up. The rest of the team can also handle itself without me there." Lios said dispassionately, withdrawing his hand right after and placing it back in his pocket.

Nineheart wondered if the boy was saying the truth. If so, why would he need that earpiece for?

"You look very young. To be placed in such an important position at such a young age is a great accomplishment." Nineheart commented.

"Thank you." he replied monotonously.

The boy didn't sound thankful at all. The way his voice didn't convey any emotion at all was slightly unnerving. Together with his lack of facial expressions, it made one wonder if he was emotionless.

"Ah, mind if we excuse ourselves first? We have things to be doing so..." Oz said.

"Sorry, brother, can we find some time to chat again later?" Lirin asked.

"Yes, feel free to go on and do what you have to." Nineheart replied.

Oz, Ickart and Lirin left. Aran took that as a cue and left too. As they left, a familiar voice spoke up.

"Nineheart, I apologise for not coming over earlier, but I had to look over the operation. Congratulations on your new freedom." Luka said.

Nineheart took a careful look at the red-haired battlemage. He looked the same, except with the addition of glasses. However, his demeanour had taken a complete change. Nineheart could see none of his previous cheerful disposition in what was now serious amber eyes, burning with a flame that seemed to call for vengeance. He knew, for he had seen that previously in the two Demon Slayers' eyes. He wondered of the two were still the same. Beside Luka was the white-haired mechanic Aidan. He too hadn't changed much, maybe not at all.

"It's alright, I understand. I assume Brighton's part of the operation?" Nineheart asked.

"Unfortunately no. He is no longer with us." Luka replied sombrely.

"In fact, none of the original Resistance members are with us anymore." Aidan said.

Nineheart found it hard to believe. He knew what had happened with Claudine, but the death of the others came as a shock. How many more of their comrades had passed on in the course of his imprisonment? How many more would leave them as the battles continued?

"I assume the operation's over?" Lios cut in, changing the topic.

"Yes it is. The rest are on their way back." Luka answered.

"Where's- oh there!"

Nineheart recognised the voice as the one belonging to the Black Wing girl who had brought him the paper and pens. He had figured that she probably was with the Resistance once he had realised the Resistance had saved him. He mentally reminded himself to thank her.

"Oh, the hard-to-please preacher?"

Nineheart stared in shock as a wine-haired man entered, eye patch over his left eye, leaving only the demon tattoos around his right eye visible. A large sword was slung across his back, over a fur-trimmed black jacket. Underneath was a set of black clothes, a brown belt around the waist and a brown scarf around the neck.

"What's he doing here?" Nineheart snarled.

The brunette girl turned to demon man and shrugged.

"Told you this would happen." she said.

"Obviously." the man smirked.

"Calm down Nineheart, he's with us now." Juejona said.

"You mean this bastard who invaded Ereve and killed Shinsoo is on our side now? Are you being serious?" Nineheart exclaimed.

"He's been around for quite a number of years and proven himself trustworthy." Juejona said.

"Oh really?" Nineheart questioned.

"Of course he is! He's taken part in a lot of mission and is one our best and most trusted Resistance members now!" the brunette exclaimed.

"Eh calm down there Ulrika-" Juejona said.

"Oh my, Ulrika defending Damien! Today is truly a beautiful day!"

A young purple-haired girl around Ulrika's age came running up to them, a sweet smile on her face, a dark jaguar by her side.

"I presume you are Nineheart, the one we sent Ulrika to save?" the girl asked him.

"Yes, indeed. And you are?" Nineheart replied.

"Cutie. That is my real name, not a nickname or anything." she replied.

"Nice to meet you, Cutie." Nineheart greeted.

"Cutie is the current Wild Hunter instructor. She's been doing the job for quite some time." Juejona informed.

"I see that the youths of the Resistance are quite capable." Nineheart said.

"I haven't had the post for that long, just ever since..."

Cutie's face fell as she cut off her sentence midway.

"Ever since Belle died. What's with you people, all so unwilling to mention things like that." Damien finished for her crudely.

"Damien." Ulrika elbowed him, giving him a warning glare.

"What? It's the truth, no point hiding it right? Nothing's going to change even if you don't mention it. They've died and that's all there is to it." Damien defended.

"Can we please move on from this subject?" Juejona interjected.

"Juejona, continue updating Nineheart." Lios said flatly.

"Oh of course. So, I've told you the fate of the Resistance, the Cygnus Knights, oh the Victorian instructors! Thankfully, they're all still doing pretty well...aside from the fact the towns get attacked by Black Wings from time to time and that the monsters have gotten stronger. But other than that, all's pretty fine over there. Compared to the rest of the world that is." Juejona said.

"I see Victoria Island has held up quite well. How about the Novas?" Nineheart asked.

"Well, frankly...we haven't received word from the Novas for quite a while now...probably because we can't even access Grandis now." Juejona explained.

"The dimension portal kind of crashed." Ulrika said.

"...crashed?" Nineheart asked.

"Literally. It just fell apart." Ulrika said.

"Not only that, but at the same time, many other portals crashed. For example, we no longer have access to Ellin Forest of the Past. We can't seem to reach the time temple either. Dimension Portals at each town also similarly broke down and places we can only reach by them are no longer accessible." Juejona added.

"For some reason, though, Elluel remains accessible despite everything." Cutie said.

"Probably because of the fact it's more closely linked. The connection nearly collapsed. Or it could be Mercedes's presence over here." Lios stated monotonously.

"Mercedes's presence?" Ulrika asked.

"Hey you never told us!" Cutie complained.

"It wasn't of any importance." Lios said.

"Then why do you tell only Nineheart?" Ulrika retorted.

"I didn't, I did tell others."

"Like?" Cutie questioned.

"Damien." Lios stated.

"Damien?" Ulrika exclaimed, directing the question more towards Damien then Lios.

"Well its because I happened to be there when he was telling it to someone else. And not like that information would help in anything." Damien defended.

"Who were you telling it to?" Cutie asked Lios.

"Olivia." he replied.

Ulrika and Cutie stared at Lios, an expression that said 'What' on both their faces. Nineheart raised an eyebrow. He had the feeling this boy was...different but now he felt he was downright strange.

"Telling the kid but not us? That's just like you." Juejona laughed.

Lios gave an offhanded shrug

"And I'm guessing, Lios, you told her because she somehow managed to get to that topic." Juejona said, looking very much amused.

"Yes." he replied in his usual deadpan manner.

"Seriously, getting some things out of you is really like a game of luck, like those super secret missions in games." Juejona said.

"I will never understand this guy." Cutie said.

"Me neither." Ulrika said.

"How the hell did you know anyway Juejona." Cutie asked.

"You'll catch on after working with him for some time." Juejona replied.

"Some time? We've been working with him for years and nothing's changed." Cutie complained.

"Then don't try and understand him." Juejona replied cheekily.

"What..." Cutie dead panned.

"Seriously, it'll make your life easier." Juejona said, smiling.

"...okay." Cutie gave up.

"Back to the topic. Anything else I had forgotten, Lios?" Juejona asked.

"That should be all for now. He can learn the rest along the way." Lios replied.

"Okay. I'll get going home anyway, have some work to do up. Juggling three jobs isn't easy you know. Sayonara." Juejona said, taking her leave quickly.

"Three jobs?" Nineheart asked.

"Well, officially her one and only job is that of a journalist, but she does have her 'job' as part of Resistance and 'job' as a Black Wing member. And they're all quite different." Ulrika explained.

"Her job as a Black Wing? I assume this means she's an undercover agent." Nineheart said.

"Yep. Very good at it too. She's been doing it for years with hardly any slip-ups." Cutie said.

"And what do you do?" he asked Ulrika.

"I'm a student so I obviously don't work. But in the Resistance, I lead the operations most of the times. There are a couple of us who are in charge on the field and we each have units of our own. I tend to be involved in stealth operations." Ulrika said.

"I see. How about the others?" Nineheart asked.

"I'm a student too, in fact, classmates with Ukrika. For Resistance matters, I'm just in charge of the Wild Hunters, so I usually lead the general operations and battles, not so much of those specialised missions like Ulrika. Damien tends to go solo, at most with one or two others, especially Ulrika." Cutie said.

"Cutie...would you stop with your shipping already..." Ulrika scowled.

"Hehe, no! Luka is in charge of Battle Mages, mostly staying in the base to look after the new recruits and helping to monitor the situation from the base during operations, especially bigger one. By the day, he works as a teacher, as before. I dont know what Aidan's day job is, but I do know he is in charge of the Mechanics and also stays in the base to look after the new recruits. Oh and he does all the technology stuff, as well as make upgrades to what we already have. And ensure the base doesn't shut down. Xenon and the other mechanics help him out with those too. Xenon and Aidan are nearly always together in the base though, they tend to have to take care of stuff together." Cutie said

For some reason, she giggled and made a small cross with her index fingers. Aidan looked away abruptly, to which Luka raised an eyebrow. Damien sniggered and Ulrika just facepalmed.

"The two Chief Knights don't really leave the base together, having to look after their daughter, with usually only one going into the fight. But nowadays they don't even leave the base, unless for large operations, because someone has to look after the remaining Cygnus Knights." Luka informed.

"Aran does fight, but usually when the Black Wing launches an attack on us, and not the other way around." Aidan added.

"The Black Wings are attacking the Resistance? Have they found your base?" Nineheart asked.

If that was so, then the base wouldn't be that safe anymore and moving away would be a good idea. Though the sheer number of equipment in the base and the personnel they would have to move made that a rather time-consuming option, it would be safer to do so.

"They haven't found our base, but they have started to attack Edelstein to lure us out. And the damage is substantial." Lios said.

Luka's expression hardened, his eyes steely with hatred.

"Those bastards, targeting all the innocent people of the town. Raiding their homes, beating up the people, taking their possessions...and even lives." Luka seethed.

"Luka, calm down." Aidan quickly said.

"Xenon's taking a long time this time round. Nearly everyone's back, yet she's still nowhere in sight. Same for Valfor." Lios muttered.

"Von's not back either. Weren't Valfor and Von supposed to cover Xenon while she hacked the system?" Ulrika said.

"So little personnel for such a job?" Nineheart asked.

"Well, we had quite a big diversion, what with rescuing you and all." Ulrika said.

"Could you please go into the details of this operation you carried out just a moment ago?" Nineheart inquired.

"We had two objectives for this mission. Firstly, was to release you from your imprisonment. We managed to get Ulrika to enter the Black Wings, and then managed to get her to provide you with the paper and pen. We invaded the base by force nearly exactly when Ulrika entered your cell. Your cell is pretty soundproof, so Ulrika didn't hear the Black Wing's sirens until she left, which was her cue to get you out. Meanwhile, we got Damien to ensure that the route we planned for you to take was clear. Ulrika then led you out without obstruction and passed you to Juejona, who was already on standby and waiting for you. Juejona brought you to our base and that objective was fulfilled. The second objective was to get more information on the Queen's whereabouts. While the fight was going on and you were being led out, we sent Valfor, Von and Xenon to hack the system. Valfor was to divert the Black Wings' attention as well as to help hold off the enemies, while Von was there to back Xenon up. We sent as little people as we could to ensure they were as inconspicuous as possible." Lios stated.

"And there's no need to worry, the three are on their way out, I just lost contact with Valfor." he continued calmly.

Nineheart stared at the blonde incredulously. He just lost contact and yet was this calm?

"I bet he flew again." Damien said.

"Hey has anyone managed to calculate his flying speed yet?" Cutie asked.

"It varies a lot, so the range is very large. And I believe he has not flown at maximum speed so far, so I don't know his maximum speed. For minimum, it would be 0 metres per second." Lios replied.

"...I guess that's a speed..." Ulrika said.

"I just realised. Our original plan was not to overload Nineheart with more information." Cutie reminded.

"Then we should just let the old man go rest or something." Damien suggested.

Nineheart frowned at the use of the word 'old'. He has grown older, but he wasn't that old.

"I'll show you to your room then." Lios said, turning and walking off once he finished his sentence.


End file.
